MARIES COUNTY — The Maries County Commission and the County Clerk recently have had several discussions about proposed legislation in the Missouri State Legislature that impacts counties. They can only express their disapproval when legislators in Jefferson City come up with bills that cost Maries County money or are attempts to change how counties function.

Clerk Rhonda Rodgers said at county commission meetings last week that there are a few bills moving forward in the state legislature that concern counties. 

One bill that later was determined to be “dead in the water,” is House Joint Resolution No. 55, that deals with consolidating 31 counties into 14 counties. If this bill passed the Missouri House and Senate and received the signature of the Governor, it would be put on the ballot for voters to approve as an amendment to the constitution. In this bill, Maries and Osage could be combined and named for the most popular county, which is Osage County. It is very unlikely that Missouri voters would approve this constitutional amendment. It would be extremely hard to pass. Local voters in all counties mentioned in the bill would not favor this change as they want to keep their county’s autonomy. 

Fagre said he thinks this bill part of the effort to do away with some of the house seats and is only a way to “gouge back” at the legislator who proposed that bill. He spoke with Rep. Tom Hurst who said that bill is not going anywhere. Also, Hurst told Judge Kerry Rowden it is not a serious bill because it has a Democratic sponsor and won’t be supported by the Republican legislature. Former Presiding Commissioner Ray Schwartze stopped by the meeting to express his disapproval of the bill and Fagre told him the bill is no longer in contention. 

Maries and Osage county’s State Representative, Tom Hurst, calls Representative Mitten’s bill about combining counties, “A stunt bill,” saying, “It’s not going to happen. It doesn’t have a chance, and it was never a serious bill.”

He said the combining counties bill was the representative’s way to get publicity and some people like publicity however they get it. Hurst said it was the same with the bill making everyone have an AR15.

One of the problems he has with the stunt bills, is that it costs from $1,500 to $10,000 to file a bill. That’s taxpayer’s money wasted on an effort to get attention. Also, Hurst said he’s a state representative 24 hours a day and people were calling him with concerns about a bill that’s not going to happen. He said some people who have contacted him he has given them Mitten’s phone number so they can call her. Hurst said this stunt bill caused him a lot of time and trouble and he takes offense at that. “She did it to get attention,” she said.

Rodgers said counties have more to worry about with some other, more serious bills in the legislature such as the state not paying the prisoner per diem/jail board, and about a bill that supports a closed primary election. 

She explained that in a closed primary election, every person would have to be registered as a Democrat, Republican, Constitutional, Green, Libertarian or as an unaffiliated voter and they would have to take a primary election ballot for that party. No longer would voters be able to choose at each primary election which ballot they voted. Rodgers thinks voters would lose control of the voting right to choose which ballot they want to vote in a primary election. Schwartze commented that some legislators “go to Jefferson City to get their name on a bill.”

About the HCS/HB 26 & 922, the bill that would close primary elections along party lines, Hurst said his opinion is that the voters should be able to pick the winners and the losers, not the political parties. He said it is the same with taxes, in his opinion, that the legislature should bring the issue to the voters and let their decision be the primary one. 

Hurst said he feels strongly that the legislature should not pass bills with large fiscal notes because “until we can pay our bills, we should not be spending more money.”

On Monday, Rodgers said the closed primary bill is the only one of the bills mentioned that appears to be going anywhere and could be have a hearing on the bill, HB922, as soon as March 25 when legislators return from their spring break. A former county clerk who is now in the state legislature, said if it advances she plans to add an amendment that says those who choose to be non-partisan voters could vote any ballot they want in the primary election. Rodgers said this would be popular among voters and most people probably would do this rather than assigning themselves as a Democrat or a Republican and forever have to vote that ballot in the primary. The Missouri Association of County Clerks and Election Authorities does not support this bill, Rodgers said. She plans to call Rep. Tom Hurst asking him to not support this closed primary election bill.